NEWS - Economic Development

SBJ Staff Report - The Georgia Department of Labor announced last week that the preliminary unemployment rate in the Coastal Georgia area decreased to 9.5 percent in October, down three-tenths of a percentage point from 9.8 percent in September. The jobless rate in the Coastal Georgia area in October a year ago was 9.3 percent. It’s the biggest decline in more than a year.

Chatham County's rate fell to 9.3 percent; Effingham County was at 8.1 percent in October; Bryan County is at 7.9 percent; and Liberty County is at 9.9 percent.  McIntosh County has the highest unemployment in the region, at 11.3 percent in October.

Across the state, Metro Athens had the lowest area rate at 7.5 percent, while metro Dalton had the highest at 12.7 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 10.2 percent in October, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 10.3 percent in September, as well as from October a year ago.

The rate dropped because Georgia added 26,500 jobs, up seven-tenths of a percentage point to 3,818,800 from 3,792,300 in September. While growth came in several sectors, 12,200 of the jobs occurred from early hiring in retail, transportation and warehousing, as employers prepared for the holiday season.

For the state, October is the 51st consecutive month Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.0 percent.

Local area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Georgia labor market data is available at www.dol.state.ga.us